FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Perhaps one day, the powers that be who are associated with the U.S. Ryder Cup team will figure out a way to get the best out of the best.
Through a few decades of American futility, all manner of scrutiny ensues when the U.S. Ryder Cup team comes up short, typically starting with the captain, the players he picked and didn’t pick, the lineups, the pairings … the color of the team uniforms.
Keegan Bradley will undoubtedly face some of that today, but it can often boil down to some of the best American players simply not playing up to the standard we see from them the rest of the year.
For those who’ve been around awhile, the names Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk evoke plenty of on-course memories, only to see some shocking Ryder Cup records posted by some of history’s best golfers.
It’s not all on them, of course. They have partners who have let them down. Strong European opponents on the other side who can be every bit as formidable as their American counterparts. To blame any one player is too simplistic. It’s unfair.
And yet, Scottie Scheffler never got to the 17th hole Friday, losing both of his matches.
Bryson DeChambeau nearly drove the first green at Bethpage Black to raucous cheers in the early-morning light, took an early lead with partner Justin Thomas, then fizzled out. Same in the afternoon with Ben Griffin.
The two best American players, Scheffler and DeChambeau, failed to win a single point, each going 0–2.
And the Americans find themselves in another big hole after the first day of the Ryder Cup, trailing 5½ to 2½.
Meanwhile, Jon Rahm went 2–0, Tommy Fleetwood went 2–0, Rory McIlroy went 1–0–1.
Tommy Fleetwood was one of the European stars who delivered on Day 1. / Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images
The European stars came through, as they did in Rome two years ago. The American stars … not so much.
“We gave ourselves plenty of opportunities,” Scheffler said of his match with J.J. Spaun against Rahm and Sepp Straka. “It really just came down to me not holing enough putts. We put up a good fight at the end. The guys just really turned it on on the back nine, but it really came down to us not taking advantage of the holes early in the match that we needed to, but overall it was a good fight at the end, and we’ll come back out tomorrow.”
It was almost as if Scheffler reverted to the 2023 version of himself that saw him dominate in nearly every statistical area but on the greens. That year, Scheffler was near the top of the PGA Tour in nearly every statistical category, only to have his putter betray him. It meant only two victories in a season that seemed like there should’ve been more.
After the U.S. defeat at the Ryder Cup in Rome—where Scheffler went 0–2–2, he seemed to be motivated by the disappointment. He hired putting coach Phil Kenyon and went on an amazing run over the next two years, winning three major championships among 13 PGA Tour titles.
It was Tiger-esque … and is it turns out, so far, his Ryder Cup record is following a similar, alarming formula. Woods went 13–21–3 in eight Ryder Cups and played on just one winning team. (Mickelson was 18–22–7 in 12 appearances and Furyk was 10–20–4 in nine Ryder Cups).
Scheffler is now 2–4–3 in a young Ryder Cup career which has seen him play in three matches. The 2021 Ryder Cup was sort of his coming-out party as he was picked for the team by captain Steve Stricker when he had yet to win on the PGA Tour.
Scottie Scheffler has won two of nine matches in his young Ryder Cup career. / Paul Childs-Reuters via Imagn Images
Woods, by comparison, was 5–8–2 through his first three Ryder Cups.
Again, you can’t pin it all on Scheffler and DeChambeau, who also struggled at times.
Henley is ranked third in the world. Justin Thomas, who played with DeChambeau in the morning foursomes, fifth. J.J. Spaun is sixth and Collin Morikawa is eighth.
There was not much production from that group, which saw only Thomas prevail in an afternoon four-ball match with Cam Young over Ludvig Åberg and Rasmus Hojgaard.
Even DeChambeau couldn’t summon enough of his superpowers to see the Americans through. He began the day with a booming drive off the 1st tee that came up just short of the green, leading to a birdie and 1-up lead for him and Thomas over Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. A few holes later, the lead was gone and they never were ahead again, eventually succumbing 4 and 3.
In the afternoon four-ball match with Griffin as his partner, they led 1 up through 10 holes but couldn’t hold the lead and ended up losing 1 up to Fleetwood and Justin Rose.
“I played good golf, just not good enough, and they made everything,” DeChambeau said. “Luck is on their side right now.”
That is a familiar U.S. refrain, not always based in reality. Sure, some luck is important. But you have to make your own luck as well.
And then there’s the other side, which led after the first day in Rome two years ago, 6½ to 1½ and put together a similar performance on Friday.
“Europe crowd-proofed New York,” said Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee. “They had an answer for everything the United States threw at them from the start. I have not seen a team come out and play the foursomes as well as Europe did this morning … it was like every single pairing that Europe had had someone who played extraordinary … they came out, took care of business, and silenced this crowd.”
Bradley, who might have been wondering if he should have been playing, attempted to keep a positive outlook.
“This is first quarter,” Bradley said. “We’ve still got three quarters to go. I’ve got a lot of faith in my boys.”
What else could he say? It’s true there are 20 more points available.
But in each of the last six Ryder Cups in which Europe led after the first day, they went on to win. The last time they didn’t was 1999 when they led 6–2 after the first day.
That also happens to be the only time a team overcame a three-point first-day deficit or worse under the current 28-point format.
So it already looks dire for the Americans, who haven’t lost a home Ryder Cup since 2012—when, by the way, Mickelson and Furyk lost their singles matches and Woods tied in a 14½ to 13½ defeat.
The Americans probably need to win both sessions Saturday to have any chance. And it starts with the stars, Scheffler and DeChambeau the biggest.
